When I’ve needed customer service the most, Staples has been there! A while back, my house burned down. When that happened, the manager of the local Staples went WAY out of her way to help dig up old invoices to assist with the arduous accounting process. However, the reason I’m thinking about Staples now is because they came to my rescue again.

Last weekend, I attended the APICS district meeting in Newport Beach. After Friday’s Presidents meeting, I went to dinner with two colleagues. I left my laptop sitting on the desk in the hotel, knowing I had to write a proposal upon my return. When I got back to the room, my laptop was DEAD. I tried all sorts of things to make it work, looked up solutions on my phone, etc. It was hopeless. Thus, instead of writing a proposal, I was searching on my phone for a new laptop and sending emails to IT support resources to try to get help. Of course, my laptop would crash on Friday night with no provocation.

I have to say, several of my IT trusted advisors responded Saturday morning (nice to work with the best!); however, I couldn’t do much more until Monday. I planned to miss a session on Saturday to find a Best Buy. I looked out the window in the morning and saw Staples.

The tech guy at Staples (who was also an Assistant Manager but he came to help because the regular tech guy was tied up) was EXTREMELY helpful and tried all sorts of things to get my laptop working. He went over and beyond and made me feel much better. Although he couldn’t fix it while there, he set me up with the right hardware and people to save my data and work next steps. And he charged me $0. I left with a broken laptop — and happy.

After the meeting, I stopped at the Ontario Staples on the way home to pick up an interim laptop I purchased. Unfortunately, it turned out, it was in Ontario, Oregon; not Ontario, CA, but they were so helpful and made sure the LaVerne store was prepared for my arrival the next day that I felt good about my experience anyway. They even offered me free items for my trouble. Next, the LaVerne tech guy actually found the magic formula (that no one thought existed) and got my laptop working — same day, on a Sunday. More than the laptop help, they shined when it came to customer service. I will be back!

One tip to implement this week:

None of these folks were technically in customer service yet I will return to Staples because of their customer service. They were exceptional. They made me believe that my laptop troubles and helping me with my problem was their most important item of the day. Do you make your customers feel that way?

If you are in customer service, sales or an executive, you are on the front lines with your customers. Believe me, they always have a choice. Customer service will help you stand out from the crowd.

If you are in any other support position, you still have customers. For example, if you are in production, you probably have shipping and warehousing as your customers. If you are in production planning, customer service, operations and accounting are your customers. Everyone has customers. Do they want to work with you? This is certainly something where you can make an immediate impact. Think of how you want to be treated. What would stand out for you? Pass on the goodwill.

Looking for more ideas to keep your supply chain connected? Access more tips and resources on my blog. And keep connected by subscribing to my newsletter and email feed of “I’ve Been Thinking…”